Need Help with an End Game Boss

[Jett Midknight]

So as it stands now the party that I have been with all summer will be coming to a close and I want to send them off with an awesome boss fight. They are currently heading towards the fortress of an orc king for a final confrontation with him. The orc king has also made a pact with a devil from earlier in the campaign so he has those powers as well.

The main thing I would like help with, is how do you make a solo boss that won't get swarmed and die? The party consists of 6 level 9 players. A ranger, sorcerer, wizard, alchemist, fighter, and ninja. If the fighter or ranger get off a full attack they deal insane amounts of damage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Amnoriath]

So as it stands now the party that I have been with all summer will be coming to a close and I want to send them off with an awesome boss fight. They are currently heading towards the fortress of an orc king for a final confrontation with him. The orc king has also made a pact with a devil from earlier in the campaign so he has those powers as well.

The main thing I would like help with, is how do you make a solo boss that won't get swarmed and die? The party consists of 6 level 9 players. A ranger, sorcerer, wizard, alchemist, fighter, and ninja. If the fighter or ranger get off a full attack they deal insane amounts of damage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1. What powers would that be?
2. Well what is the orc king first off? They key to making sure you are not cornered is all about environment and movement.

[Jett Midknight]

1. What powers would that be?
2. Well what is the orc king first off? They key to making sure you are not cornered is all about environment and movement.

1. Mainly just applying the Fiendish template to the base boss giving him 10 DR and resistance to fire. Also gives him access to Smite Good which will allow him to dish out an equal amount of damage as the fighter.

2. I was planning on him being either a Fighter or Barbarian. I want him to be tanky, but the main problem with that is if he has to get close to deal damage then that gives the fighter a full attack.

I could always give him a high AC so the fighter doesn't hit every single turn.

[Glimbur]

Consider cheating. For one thing, having only one action a round against their ~6 is a recipe for bad times. Maybe give him minions, lackeys, flunkies, etc. Maybe give him a second (and maybe third) action a round.

Miss chance is helpful but annoying for PC's.

[Antonok]

couple big ol' demons as minions,
Ring of Freedom of Movement,
Ring of Heal (3 Charges),
Headband of Mindblank
+x Armor of Fortification (to negate crits)
Necklace of Death Ward
Boots of Haste (constant effect)
Cloak of Fly (constant effect)

He's the big bad, not like he won't have atleast a couple custom magic items.

You can also make it to where holes in the floor open up making the party have to watch how they move.

[dspeyer]

Perhaps the demon granted him some sort of persisted supreme haste effect, allowing him extra actions?

[GuyFawkes]

It's ideal to have a few lackeys for a boss fight, to keep a group of 6 occupied. But if you really are keen on a solo boss, in my opinion, you have to make him have tons of HP or relatively high AC and saves, long enough to last at least a few rounds and make it fun for party. For offense, it's nice to have him consistent mid-ranged damage and some burst ones. Also something like an Anklet of Translocation would be good to have, plus reach.

You could also have the room they are fighting rigged with traps to have them occupied with something else.

[desero clades]

I agree with what's been said so far about the minions, but if you want to keep him a solo boss, I'd suggest giving him a sort of celerity effect where he can act after 2/3 of the party's turns.

Alternatively, you can do what all video game bosses do and transform mid fight (to some super devil orc thing?). Maybe even make him a multi-part boss where the the party will have to target and destroy the arm (for example) otherwise it will cast heal on the body.

Last idea is fake clones/illusions and then divide the party with the combat field.

[Silva Stormrage]

Ring of nine lives is a good item for this situation, another one would be to allow him to revive multiple times upon defeat, getting more and more powerful each time. Maybe his god is giving him strength, maybe he has some captives held with a dark ritual that siphons their life into his when he dies so he revives until he runs out of sacrifices.

[Rolep]

Cos it's siz on one, you could make him gestalt his barb/fight with an appropriately-themed spellcaster. This would give him more options and allow him to buff himself through the roof and then wade in for colossal damage. Ansd a few minions and traps would be useful, if just to distract. Finally, make sure that the party is caught unawares, so that they don't have their buffs but the orc king does.

What version are you playing?

[Amridell]

I agree with what's been said so far about the minions, but if you want to keep him a solo boss, I'd suggest giving him a sort of celerity effect where he can act after 2/3 of the party's turns.

Alternatively, you can do what all video game bosses do and transform mid fight (to some super devil orc thing?). Maybe even make him a multi-part boss where the the party will have to target and destroy the arm (for example) otherwise it will cast heal on the body.

Last idea is fake clones/illusions and then divide the party with the combat field.

I actually made a class a while back that made illusions of itself called the Ghostly Warrior. It kind of sucked though, it was a bit broken.

Make sure he has a battle strategy that isn't "hit them until they die". Perhaps the cloak of fly is the best suggestion, and the haste could help a lot. This lets the party also get some decent loot out of it, too.

[NikolaTesla]

Party is level 9, and since this is a boss fight you'll want an epic encounter, so EPL +3, almost +4 because there's 6 of them, so CR 12 dude.

So, fun thing you can do: re-skin a devil:

Take a Barbed devil (CR 11) as your base. Take away extraplanar subtype and replace it with outsider (native) and humanoid (orc). Apply orc racial abilities. Take away his impale, barbed defense, and summon abilities, and give him a rend attack and a 1d6 bleed/Heal DC 22 Infernal wound ability. Finally, give him 2 levels of fighter to make him a CR 12 monster.

He'll have about 145HP, Spell Resistance 22, DR10/Good, Immunity to Fire and Poison, resistance 10 to cold and acid, and with some decent armor an AC easily over 30, possibly in the neighborhood of 35 to 40 if you try for it. He'll have access to hold person at will and will be capable of easily 30+ points of damage per round. Give him the ability to use magic devices and give him a wand of dimension door, and have the fight take place in a large area (though large areas can have walls) and let him engage members of the party one on one on his own terms. Load him up on healing potions that he can use his wand to escape and drink. Finally, the ability to fly, whether you give him himself wings or an item that allows him to fly.

By the rules, your party should be able to handle it, but with a large expendeture of resources and possibly a couple of resurrection spells. One thing's for sure though; it'll be one heck of a battle!

EDIT: If you go this route let your party have their buffs or they will DIE.

[Fortinbro]

If it is a solo-fight against a fairly large party odds are he's gonna have a bad time. With no minions, priority one should probably be to have him go first with readied actions for when the party enters the room. Then, give him a huge initiative modifier so he gets to go first. This will give him two chances to do something to weaken or scatter the party or protect himself. Also, if he casts or has someone who can cast for him, he should have cast all his buffs before the fight while the party was going through his dungeon. Minions are still highly recommended though.

[~Corvus~]

For the boss itself, as others have suggested, cheating would be well-advised. One particularly yummy combination for an Orc, I think, would be a Warblade 1 /Totemist 9 combined with the Fiend Template.

Hear me out:
Relevant to this character from the Totemist are Girallon Arms or Landshark Boots for your totem, and then Sphinx Claws for your arms, and you get to POUNCE on a charge.

Feats-wise do Multiattack and Improved Soulmeld Capacity, give him the Shaky Flaw (-2 ranged attack, so cheesy) and maybe Vulnerable (-1 AC?) for Power Attack and Leap Attack. Perhaps take Improved Bull Rush and Shock Trooper, too.

No need for lion-totem Barb cause totemists are badass

The most important things from the Warblade level are Moment of Perfect Mind and Punishing Stance, and if you take the WB level at high levels, you could grab Battle Leader's Charge for a massaive damage charge and Iron Heart Surge, too, making this dude Ultra-tough to pin down.

Punishing Stance will give you an extra 1d6 damage per attack, and Girallon Arms + Multi-attack + Expanded Soulmeld Capacity means that these Arms are each up to +4 weapons (!!!).

This means you can, on a Full Attack, be dealing 4d4 + 4d6 + 16+ 2.5*Str. If you shape Landshark Boots to your Totem, you can take Charge attacks that deal 8d6 + 16 + 2.5*Str and then double damage with Leap Attack, and War Leader's Charge lets you take this attack with a +10 to damage. So that's potentially 16d6 +32 + 5* Str on every charge without a crit. War Leader's Charge adds another 10, and can't grant an Attack of Opportunity. Damn son.

If you want a Cabin-in the Woods-scary grappler, then Girallon Arms gives +2 to grapple and a +4/ invested essentia, so at a +4 Essentia capacity, that's freaking +10 grapple. That Warblade level, taken at level 9 (Totemist 8 / WB 1 / Totemist +1) could allow you--if you cheat on the stance rules--Crushing Weight of the Mountain Stance, giving you a terrifying +2d6 +1.5*Str on Grapple checks, making your overall grapple damage with Girallon Arms 4d4+2d6 + 16 + 4*Str (this assumes, obviously, that you don't have Punishing Stance, but this one instead)